It has been a record week for the Charlotte Hornets, who are taking their current surge back home to face the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday afternoon.
Both teams are floating around the playoff cut-off lines in their respective conferences.
The Hornets won 133-109 at Indiana on Thursday as Kon Knueppel became the NBA’s all-time leader among rookies in 3-point baskets.
“Any time you can be around moments that are historic, it’s pretty special,” Charlotte coach Charles Lee said. “And to see where his story started, where he continues to ascend to, is really cool. The players around him, they have put him in great positions, they’ve helped him along the way.”
Knueppel has made 209 shots from 3-point range, shooting 44.2% from beyond the arc.
The Hornets are coming off a 3-0 road trip, putting them within two games of a .500 record.
“We’ve got to take care of the games that we believe we should win,” Knueppel said. “Going forward, just playing together, defensively and offensively, will be the best strategy for us.”
The Trail Blazers pulled off a 121-112 victory at Chicago on Thursday to begin a five-game road trip.
“It’s always good to win, the whole vibe on the team,” Portland coach Tiago Splitter said. “On the road a lot of days. No family, just us, meetings, meals, bus rides, planes. It’s a lot of time together.”
For the Trail Blazers, Jerami Grant’s 27 points versus Chicago gave him three consecutive games of 20-plus points for the second time this season. He hasn’t hit that level in fourth straight games.
Deni Avdija is the Trail Blazers’ leading scorer at 24.4 points per game, but he has been out for nearly a week with back pain.
Portland center Donovan Clingan missed the Chicago game because of illness. Forward Toumani Camara is the only player to appear in all 60 games for the Trail Blazers this season, averaging 13.1 points per game.
With the Trail Blazers dealing with backcourt injuries, it has provided opportunities for guard Scoot Henderson this month. He has appeared in eight games, reaching double-figure point totals in all of those.
“He always brings spark to our team,” Splitter said. “Good to see him growing.”
Splitter said limiting turnovers is something the Trail Blazers are emphasizing.
“We’ve got to take care of the ball,” Splitter said. “We’ve been (turning it over) too much. We always talk about doing the easy pass and not trying to do the hero pass. Just got to be smart and take care of the ball.”
Guard Coby White made his Hornets debut Thursday night, logging 17 minutes. He had been injured since being acquired from Chicago in a trade.
If White plays Saturday, it will mark his first home game in his home state.
“He picks up things really quickly,” Lee said. “Don’t try to do too much, don’t need to be extraordinary.”
This will be the first of two meetings between the teams in less than two weeks.
–Field Level Media
